Sick as a Dog
I spent this past weekend sick as a dog. I figure I picked up something during my routine visit to the doctor. I seem to get a cold or something every time I go in there anymore. This thing this weekend was a lot worse than a cold. I am beginning to think I should have “lived fast, and died young”.
I once again had problems with eBayers. The battery grip I ordered was missing one of the springs in the battery compartment. They were nice enough, said they would look and see if they had one. The then dummied up on me, did not respond to emails, etc. I filed a dispute with PayPal, and they immediately responded to that. They claimed their junk mail deleted my emails. Said they had a spring, and would send it as soon as I closed the dispute. ??? Wait a minute! Fool me once, OK. But I am not going to be a sucker twice. I responded that I would close the dispute as soon as I get the spring. All this hassle over a 10¢ part. Anyway, they said they had mailed it, but it has not arrived yet. Sigh.
A week ago last Saturday, it was fairly nice out and I went uptown and shot a bunch of photos with the new camera (Olympus e420, for those who have just come in) on auto. I had it set to save a raw file and a VGA (640×480) size jpeg. All of the raw files were usable, most of the jpegs were rather under exposed. A couple of examples:
First the jpeg as it came out of the camera.
And then the raw, default ACR settings, downsize to 640×480, converted to 8 bits, and saved for the web.
So, for the people who ask why I shoot raw, that is the reason.
Oh, if I had been doing my usual thing the jpegs would have no doubt came out better. My usual thing is to shoot manually, metering with my incident light meters. In fact, the next day I went out to the Greenway Trail Park and shot some snow shots that way. A couple of the jpegs had burnt out highlights, bad technique on my part, while the raw files were OK.
The problem, for those who do not know, in both cases is that what you see in the jpeg is what you get, any data that was lost was permanently gone, while with the raw files everything that was captured is still there (as long as you do not overwrite the file with an edited version). For example the default conversion burns out the highlights like on the jpeg’s, you can go in and change the settings and there are your highlights.
I have to go check at the Post Office and see if that spring has arrived. So long until next time.
Lens Adapter (Pentax K, in this case) on the Olympus e420
I received a PK to 4/3 lens adapter in the mail the other day. My 50mm f/1.7 ought to serve as a decent 100mm f/1.7 portrait lens on the Olympus e420.
And, my Tokina 80-200 f/2.8 will make a nice 160-400 f/2.8.
Those two cover the most critical needs I have. I think they will work OK with manual f/stops, because I will tend to use them near wide open. Some of my other lenses may be useful, but probably will be more annoying to use. Those are a Vivitar 24mm f/1.8, plus 35mm f/2.0 and 100mm f/2.8 Pentax M’s. There was a time I had several more. But since I was not using them much, they went to new homes.
Some test shots with the Pentax M 50mm f/1.7.
At f/1.7. Who says you can not get a nice blurred background with 4/3? The tripod is about 2 feet from the camera. Full frame image downsized to 800×600 and saved for web. No other editing.
At f/4.0 at 5 feet. Shot this to see about what typical DOF would be on a head and shoulders portrait. Cropped to show DOF clearly. Cropped and downsized for web.
At f/4.0 Pretty close up, FL-50 on Stroboframe Press-T bracket connected via Yongnau rf-602 radio slave trigger. Full frame image, downsized to 800×600, and saved for web, no other editing.
It is very difficult to manual focus on the viewfinder screen, mostly you have to go by what looks most contrasty. My MX has a plain ground glass in it but is 100 times easier to focus. The screen in the e420 is designed for a very bright image, not for focusing. It might have been better to get an adapter with the focus confirm chip, so you could get a beep to tell you when you were in focus.
The 80-200 zoom, on the other hand, is not too hard to focus at 200mm f/2.8.
That was taken out the kitchen window, very dirty and screened, hand held at 400mm equivalent, the lens is actually quite sharp although you could not tell it from this photo. However, it does show that the lens does work on the e420.
Since my main reason for buying he adapter was to use the Pentax 50mm as a portrait lens I took this quick self portrait (Pentax M 50mm @ f/4.0, 1m, window light).
Yes, I know, I need to trim my face. Actually, I am surprised I got the focus that close since I merely set the lens to 1 meter, and the stool an estimated meter from the camera. It does show that a 50mm lens is OK for headshots on 4/3. I used f/4.0 on “A”, and the camera set 1/60 sec. That was about 1.5 stops under exposed (adjusted in ACR). The reason for the underexposure was because I did not think to use the eyepiece cover, I would not have that problem using the studio strobe. However, I think manual exposure is the way to go with adapted lenses.
Conclusion, this is a cheap way of getting a portrait lens, but you could have shot the same image with the 40-150 kit lens (which I do not have) set to 50mm. The 50mm f/2.0 macro would work fine (for $$$) as well. In this case, since I already had the Pentax lenses, it seems like it was a good $12.50 investment for me.
Homebrew Camera Strap?
I have been experimenting a bit.
Some people have recommended the R-Strap (http://www.blackrapid.com/setup-and-tips/). So I thought I would try something similar, only less intrusive. I dislike heavy bulky straps that are always in the way. Using the lanyard from one of my light meters, that is one of those with the loop of string on the end, on the Epson C-5050z I lashed up the rig in the following photos.
With the string looped through the eyelet, and the lanyard worn bandoleer fashion it leaves the camera hanging about in the position that the R-Strap does.
It is easy to reach down and grab the camera by the grip and lift it to the eye. Of course, there is no clip to slide up and down the strap, but the lanyard is soft enough and flexible enough that it does not get in the way.
This light lanyard wouldn’t do for a heavy camera, of course, but should be fine with that one. If I remove the lens tube and sunshade, the camera with retracted lens fits nicely under a coat too.
I may make up something similar for the DSLR out of a bit heavier strap, maybe 3/8″. In the mean time, I found another lanyard laying about the apartment, this one a wrist strap for who knows what? I am using it on the DSLR as a safety strap, so I do not drop the camera. It does not even get in the way when the camera is on the tripod.
Not everyone’s cup of tea, but it works for me.
Yongnou RF-602 radio slave trigger works with Olympus e420 & FL-40
I finally received the replacement RF-602. I had ordered one before X-mas, but it turned out to be defective, so I had to send it back to China for replacement. I first ordered the thing on Dec 7th, 2009, and finally have a working one today Feb 12th, 2010.
Anyway I checked it out and it works with my new e420, and the old C-5050z; using the FL-40 speedlight. Since Olympus claims it is dangerous to mount the FL-40 on the e420, that is a good thing. I did make a little plastic bit to block the TTL terminals, and can use it on the hot shoe with as an auto, not TTL, flash, but it makes a snug fit and the little plastic bit would be easy to lose. So the RF-602 is a good thing.
FL-40, Press-T, RF-602
Above you see the e420 and the FL-40 mounted on my Press T flash bracket with the RF-620 providing the connection between the two. Some brief experiments shows that the combination works fine in auto mode with the camera on A or M.
Of course the setup will work with the flash on a light stand or held at arms length just as well. Heck it will work with the flash upstairs in the bedroom.
Anyway, $40 or so is a lot cheaper than buying a new FL-50R. And it is a bit more versatile as well. Unfortunately, the RF-602 will not fire my studio strobe (Norman P-808m).
(The above also appeared on Photo Camel in the 4/3rd’s form in a slightly different form)
Blog or Website?
Some things I have been thinking about.
I want to start putting up more photography related stuff, but I do not know if I should add them to the Graywolf Photo Website, or put them here in the blog, or put up another blog limited to those posts. One of the things I have noticed myself doing is writing posts in forums, while ignoring my readership here. I do not think that is in my best interests. I have limited energy and if I am going to write I think I should do it here.
I feel it is OK, when I give a brief comment to someones post on a forum, but initializing and following up one articles seems counter productive. I could just as well write them here.
Blogs are easy, but web articles are now mostly a case of just cutting and pasting the formating stuff into an article written with any editing software, so it is pretty much 6 of one or a half dozen of the the other. I tend to think of the website as more permanent, and the blog more like magazine articles. So, maybe, that is the answer. If I think what I am writing about is of lasting interest put it on the website, and if it is of passing interest put it here.
I believe I mentioned that I intended to make photography once again my central interest. I have, as you know, many interests, but limited resources. I have spent a large portion of my discretionary funds on photo equipment over the past several months, and done not much with it. On the other hand, I have spent an inordinate amount of time moving snow with a broken plastic shovel (GRIN!).
So over the next few days, I will have to make a decision of which way I want to go with this.
What about that double header image? I have increase the with of the main column in this blog so I can put in slightly larger photos, but the code for the header image does not seem to resize, instead it tries to put multiple copies up. I will have to figure out the code, or shoot a new photo.
New Camera
As most of you know, I am an equipment snob. Unfortunately, my funds do not run to the stuff I like. I usually resort to old old good stuff, but this time I bought new. It was not easy coming up with the funds, but I managed to scrape together a few hundred bucks. My choices seemed to be a very used pro DSLR, or this:
Olympus e420 with kit lens
Since I am trying to get that hobby business going (Currently hung up do to weather and my back), I decided I wanting something with a warranty that I could buy locally. The Olympus was cheap ($400) it uses Compact Flash Cards (Important to me), and I thought it would use my Olympus FL-40 flash (It will not. Olympus says it will damage the camera), and it would operate similarly to my C-5050z (Partially correct). Another factor was the availability of adapters to us my Pentax lenses on it; especially the 50mm as that would be equal to a 100mm portrait lens in 35mm (The 4/3 lenses are 1/2 the focal length of 35mm lenses).
So is this going to be a digital replacement for my MX’en? Well it is actually slightly smaller.
Olympus e420 wit 14~42 Kit lens on left, Pentax MX with M100/2.8 on right
How do you like my dramatic photo? All photos with the e420 in them were taken with the C-5050z.
The C-5050z remains my carry around camera and will be backup to the e420. Since I showed the e420 and the camera ir replaces, I will show the C-5050Z and the camera it replaced.
C-5050 on left, Canonet GIII EE1.7 on right
In fact the C-5050z feels a lot more upscale in the hands than the e420, but it does not react as quickly as the e420. Right now I am far more comfortable with the C-5050z, but then I have had it for five years, and have only had the e420 for three days.
The e420 is Olympus’s bottom line DSLR, it does not even have image stabilization like the e520, but it is also the smallest and lightest DSLR on the market. I believe it has been replaced by the e450 which by all reports only has a couple of “software features” added, and is not really available yet anyway It has a 10mp 4:3 image. The kit lens is supposed to be the best of the kit lens on any of the entry level DSLR’s. Since I will be using it mostly on the tripod, the lack of IS is not a hardship
I really do not love auto features. I took a photo out of the window this morning and the camera gave me a perfectly focused image… Of the screen. It selects focus points that I do not want it to focus on. So far the exposures have all been withing the raw of adjustment in Adobe Camera Raw.
I have not used it outside much, this photo from yesterday morning shows why.
Snow Day
Yep, taken with the e420; I did compensate for the snow, but then could not see the mountains in the background, so used the uncompensated photo. We have been having a lot of this kind of weather here in Boone this winter. I pulled my back shoveling the stuff a couple weeks ago, and it has not settled down yet.
Cheap Exercise Machine
It has been cold and wet here in Boone this winter. As a result I have not been getting enough exercise, not even the minimal amount that I get from just getting out and about. So I was trying to figure out what to do about it. Cold wet snow on the Greenway Trail where I usually walk. The local Boone Mall is tiny, at least it is enclosed, but it is a three mile drive each way.
Then I realized I have an exercise machine right here in the apartment. A brief trial had my heart rate up to 300, far higher that is safe for someone my age. So what is this fabulous exercise machine?
The stairs to the upper floor of my apartment.
Ten laps at a normal pace was all it took to get my heart rate up to that high figure. Which proves I am way out of shape. That is 15 steps up and 15 steps back down. When you think of it it is the same as climbing ten stories and walking back down, enough to get anyone’s heart beating kind of fast.
Which goes to show you do not necessarily need money to accomplish your purpose, whatever that may be.
Nothing much going on
We did have a couple of nice days. The break in the winter was appreciated. I managed to get out on the greenway trail along the New River for a walk Monday, but got tied up in things yesterday including a trip to the doctors office.
We are now looking to see if part of my physical problems are not an over reactive immune system. I knew about immune deficiencies, auto-immune problems where your bodies defences attack your own body, but I had never even thought of the immune system just over reacting. What that means is your your body treating a minor cold like it was the flu, for instance. Anyway my doctor sent me in for a bunch of blood tests, and depending on the results may send me out of town to an immunologist.
Other than that there is nothing much going on the combination of being broke and bad weather makes a walk in the tiny town shopping mall, or reading a book about as exciting as life gets for the time being.
I can’t imagine that anyone out there is interested in this kind of crap, so why do I bother writing it?
Global Warming?
This so far is the coldest, snowiest, iciest winter since I moved here to Boone North Carolina USA.
The other night it got down to 3F, and the wind chill was -11F. I do not know where all this cold is coming from, it seems to be warmer up along the Canadian boarder. It is about 18F out there right now. When I checked the forecast earilier this morning it was supposed to get warm (35F) tomorrow and drop right down again. However, I just checked and it is not predicting mid-40’s later in the week. It is real confusing. At least the sun is out today.
I had to send the radio slave back to China. It died between one shot and the next. Lasted a whole two days. The unit was a Yongnuo RF-602, they have been getting pretty good reviews. It would not work with my studio strobe. A belated email to Yongnuo got the response they were not compatable. But if it would it will give me the ability to use the Olympus FL-40 flash off camera in the field it would be worth having. What I was trying when it died was using the FL-40 to fire the Norman P-808M optically, as it syncs with the old Wein photocell slave OK.
I printed this self-portrait on 11×14 just to see how that worked.
Chairman of the Bored
The print came out a bit dark, I will have to so something about that in future prints.
Wow, it’s twenty ten!
We have jumped into the new year. The end of the old one had some negatives.
Christmas morning I woke to the results of an ice storm. The power was out, the cable was out. The cel-phone could not get a lock. I was broke. There was only a couple of liters of water in the apartment (we are on a well). It was still drizzling freezing rain and I got soaked trying to open the iced up doors on the car.
So I spread some salt about the area, one of my services to management, made as sandwich and a cup of coffee (I have a propane camping stove) for breakfast and then read a bit. It was so gloomy that reading was not easy.
By early afternoon the rain had stopped and I got the car opened up. It started OK, and the roads were reasonably clear due to tons and tons of salt. Turned out the teller machine was working, so I got $20 from it, and after hitting 4 or 5 gas stations (nothing else open on Christmas Day), I finally found one with gallons of water. So, home and no more worries about water (I had bought an extra gallon in case the lady down the row needed it, she said she didn’t), I went back to my reading. The light was better and I read until it was getting dark, then made another sandwich and had another cup of instant coffee. I went to bed about 7pm as it was getting cold in the apartment (electric heat). The power came on about 11pm. However, I just got internet today (9th day), so I have been going stir crazy.
However things are starting to work better. As I mentioned, I once again am connected to the world. I drove down to Hickory (50 miles) yesterday to look for a pair of high top shoes. All I could find were: 1. expensive, or 2. uncomfortable, or 3. ugly. I finally bought the cheapest things I could find that were reasonably comfortable although they looked like clodhoppers. On the way back I stopped at the Walmart where I had bought the tires back in March, I think, as there has been slow leaks in two of them (about 5#/mo). The tire guy fixed them for free. He said that the wheel bead grooves were corroded and he had to sand them smooth, but the tires were now holding pressure. That is a worry off my mind.
My New Years resolution, made a bit early, was to have faith that things would usually work out OK. It was tested a bit over the past week but, I am hanging in there.
Before the holidays I volunteered to shoot portraits down at the local Senior Center for free. That went well. I had 14 sittings, and they seemed pleased with the results. I am low on funds as you know, so what I gave them was a CD with 5-6 images on it and permission to have prints made. Most of them when to Walmart, that keep my costs low. Total time was about 12 hours of work.
I figured that most older folks never had portraits done and thus their families usually never had photos of them late in life. My idea was to help remedy that without it costing them too much money. I had a coupe of more sittings scheduled for the next week but woke up ill that morning, I told the Director of the SC to tell them I would give them a rain check on the sittings, so will have to arrange to do them soon.
Well, I am close to 600 words, so I guess I will post this and go read a bit before bed.